The Pale Blue Dots
by emperorsjudgement
Summary: The illustrious Voyager programme is winding down but on the day the probes are meant to be switched off they find something to take your breathe away..
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

05:23 Foothill Freeway, Pasadena, California, 05.09.2018 

Howard Steven was melancholic as he drove along the foothill freeway, every morning for nearly four decades he woke up ecstatic and couldn't wait to get to work. Howard was living the dream he was a Nasa mission controller, he had spent his entire career working on a project that had inspired millions of people and which had explored the outer reaches of the solar system. Every morning he would wake up at five am have a shower, make his breakfast, feed his fish then head into work to read the next lot of data sent from the space probes.

Today Howard hadn't wanted to get out of bed, after pressing the snooze button twice he hauled himself out of bed he had felt so depressed he didn't shower nor did he have any breakfast but out of muscle memory he fed the fish before grabbing his car keys. Howard felt depressed as today was the day that the instruments on the Voyager probes would be switched off and the programme would be disbanded permanently. Howard had never believed he would actually get to be the mission controller for the Voyager programme but the posting was a bitter sweet one as he would also never have believed he would have to be the one to close it down, he believed that he would have retired passing the baton over to someone else who would have monitored the probes until they were planned to be switched off in 2025.

Howard was never a drinker but last night he bought a six pack of beers from the local store to wash down the McDonald's Big Mac meal he purchased right next to mission control. That rankled at his pride as you may think that mission control of the Voyager programme, the control room for the space probes that sent actual pictures of the planets of our solar system would be in some important government building. The building did sound important The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Californian Institute of Technology but it was a dreary office in a small Pasadena business park next to a McDonald's. A MCDONALD's!

If the project could continue being next to McDonalds' wouldn't rankle as much but knowing that their mission only had hours left to run cut him to his core. Howard and his closest colleague Emilio had fought tooth and nail to keep the project going, for over a year Howard butted heads with department heads, directors and ultimately had a raging argument with the Administrator of Nasa himself which nearly ended in a fist fight- which put the final nail in Voyager's coffin and cast a pall over Howards career when the instruments were switched off.

It would be easy to blame the fortunes of the Voyager programme on the Trump administration but the fame of the project had dwindled after the cameras were turned off in 1990. The truth is Voyager wasn't sexy anymore the programme fell out of the limelight after the Pale Blue Dot image but for a swansong Howard couldn't have asked for a better one. As much as Howard was proud of his achievements and the work he had done he often believed he was born too early he wished to have been born in a thousand years' time to where he was sure he could have actually seen Neptune with his own eyes instead of just looking at images of the gas giant.

There again he doubted that any craft which would take him to Neptune would be government owned. If the transition of space exploration of today going from public to private sector was anything to go by then if he wanted to voyage to the outer solar system it would be on some gordy gargantuan interplanetary cruiseliner with dancing girls and cocktails. Howard believed that space exploration should be conducted by governments for the betterment of all mankind, instead of being controlled by the private setter whose ultimate bottom line was profit. That was in part why the Voyager programme was coming to a premature end, there just wasn't enough money to go around in the eternal game of musical chairs for public funding and they had finally lost but it had been a good run.

In the end it was the lack of results which decided Voyagers fate, they had studied the interstellar medium with interesting results but it was fair to say that the data wouldn't change much until Voyager 1 reaches AC + 793 in 40,000 years and Voyager 2 will reach Sirius in 289,000 years but by then the probes would be deaf and blind as the sensors would be inoperable and the human race may well be extinct. Howard drove his sedan off the freeway and began to meander through the urban sprawl of Pasadena heading to his place of work for the last time, he knew that the project closing down wouldn't change the fact that the probes were still out there but it would never be the same.

The computer that controlled the Voyagers would be turned off at 12:56 the exact time that Voyager 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral in 1979. Howard wasn't even meant to be on shift today, of course he wasn't going to miss the termination of a project he had worked on since its launch but he had planned to go in around 10:00 but he wanted to spend as much time in the office as he was able. Besides he hadn't been able to sleep due to a mixture of nostalgia and second rate fast food, his colleague and close friend of many years Emilio Lopez was on shift and he knew his friend wouldn't begrudge the company, perhaps he would stop off at a 24/7 convenience store and pick up a bottle of bubbly for them to share.

Howard was startled as his smart phone vibrated chaotically sending it dancing across his dashboard, without thinking he lunged to his right to try and catch it. In doing so he turned the steering wheel violently sending his sedan into the oncoming lane, he recovered quickly and was thankful that there was no other traffic on the road but he had missed the call. Howard did the right thing this time he indicated then pulled over outside an apartment block, he looked to his smartphone and was surprised to see that Emilio had tried to call him. Howard was about to call him back but decided against it he was nearly at the office whatever Emilio had to say he was sure it would keep until then. Howard was about to put his phone back on his dash it began to ring again in his hand.

Howard could see that it was Emilio calling again and his blood ran cold when he saw the time above the caller ID name, it was 05:32 it was two minutes after Voyager 1 was due to send the latest data from the interstellar medium. Calls in the early hours were not uncommon if there was a problem with propulsion or steering control but with the programme ending today Emilio wouldn't be calling for that. Howard accepted the call he had better find out what his colleague wanted.

'Hello Howard? Hello.' Came the voice of Emilio, there was a pit in Howard's stomach now as he heard his friend sounded frantic. 'Howard are you there?'

'I am here Emilio.' Replied Howard.

'Good I am sorry for waking you.'

'You haven't.' reassured Howard. 'In fact I am around ten minutes out, I couldn't sleep I wanted to spend more time in the office.'

'You're coming here?' asked Emilio, he sounded relieved. 'Great good I need your help.'

'What why?' asked Howard, he could feel his heart pumping in his chest. 'Have they come early to shut us down?'

'No nothing like that.' Replied Emilio. 'It's the data we have just received the latest data from Voyager 1… its I don't know how to describe it.'

'Don't know how to describe what?' asked Howard, he felt that he was beginning to sweat.

'Voyager 1 has found something…' Emilio's breathing was laboured as he tried to get his words out. 'Voyager 1 has found something a whole lot of something, you better get here quick.'

'A whole lot of what?' asked Howard, incredulously.

'Its best if you see it first-hand.' Replied Emilio. 'I don't know what I am looking at, well I do but I can't explain it rationally I hope to god that I am wrong.'

'Explain what?' asked Howard, becoming increasingly worried. 'You are scaring me now, Emilio.'

'I am scaring myself, Howard, please don't make me say it over the phone.' Pleaded Emilio, he sounded worried which began to unnerve Howard. 'Just get here but I think it's safe to say that that Voyager won't be switched off anytime soon, if this is what I think it is it will change everything, nothing will ever be the same again.'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

05:41 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 05.09.2018

Howard could not remember the last eighteen minutes since hanging up on Emilio it was a blur he could have ran over someone for all he knew, he couldn't even remember parking the sedan or if he even locked it. He checked his pockets and found he didn't have his car keys but right now he didn't give a damn if someone stole his car they were welcome to it he just wanted his gut feeling to be wrong. Howard entered the building and wound his way through drab corridors he was reminded again of how inauspicious the building was for what they were doing. Howard rounded a corner in the corridor and standing in the doorway of their office was Emilio he looked frantic.

'Thank god you're here.' Said Emilio, follow by a sigh of relief he then beckoned his colleague into the office.

Howard followed Emilio into the office where he emerged into the minimalist dated office setting, Emilio stood next to a duel screened lone computer that was responsible for the control of the Voyager probes.

'Put me out of my misery, what you got?' asked Howard.

Emilio nodded in acknowledgement then sat in the office chair and took control of the computer. 'This is the latest data was sent from Voyager 1 and to be honest I just started skimming it, with the project coming to an end I thought what is the point right? That's until I glanced at the data from the Plasma Wave System then I saw those.' Emilio brought up the data and gestured to the screen which showed the raw data as well as an implicit model.

Howard didn't speak he had no words, the Plasma Wave System which measured electron density profiles which had been useful when studying Jupiter and Saturn. The implicit modelling was useful as it gave a visual aid when looking at the data as it would show blobs of colour where there was high density of electrons. The implicit model before them now was like nothing he had ever seen before as there were dozens of them, dozens of blobs of electrons out there in the interstellar medium where there should be nothing but dust and void.

'That's crazy right?' asked Emilio, as he switched windows on the monitor. 'And look there's more.'

Now in front of them were the results from the Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer they were looking at magnetic fields in the same pattern as the implicit modelling of the electron density profiles. To Howard it was and it wasn't clear what he was seeing in the data and the implicit modelling, he saw dozens upon dozens of objects out there in front of Voyager 1 but he didn't have the faintest idea of what they were.

'They can't be natural can they?' asked Emilio.

Howard didn't want to answer right away he wanted to try and rationalize it. 'This couldn't be wrong could it, we aren't detecting stars in error?'

'I checked it and rechecked it.' Countered Emilio, defensively. 'The closest reading is 13.1 billion miles, over ten times the distance between Earth and Jupiter.'

Howard let out a long low whistle. 'That's practically next door in astronomical terms, do we know if they're moving?'

'Yeah they're moving alright.' Said Emilio, he looked back at Howard he had gone pale. 'They're moving fast.'

Howard shuddered as he felt he already knew the answer to his next question. 'Do you know where they're headed?'

'There were streams and streams of data taken over several hours so I could track their progress.' Emilio took three attempts to form the words. 'Here, they are headed here to Sol, what the hell are they?'

'Well they are either dozens of asteroids that are somehow emitting electromagnetic fields.' Replied Howard, his brow creased in worry and he let out a long sigh before saying. 'Or they are vessels of some description.'

Emilio visibly shuddered after Howard verbalised what they were both thinking. 'What the hell are we going to do?'

'There is only course of action.' Shrugged Howard. 'I am going to have to contact the Administrator.'

'You're going to ring the Administrator?' asked Emilio, he looked shocked.

Howard shrugged. 'The Administrator is the senior space science advisor to the President and I have a feeling that he is going to want to know about this.'

'I very much doubt he will agree to speak to you.' Replied Emilio, trying to conceal a smirk.

It was the administrator who was ultimately responsible for pulling the funding for the Voyager probes and the ceasing of the project early, Howard and the Administrator had very nearly come to blows over the decision so he would not be wanting to speak to Howard anytime soon.

'Whether he is still sore at me it doesn't matter, he has to know about this it's his job to know.' Replied Howard, he sighed. 'If these are alien ships then everyone will need to know about this eventually.'

'What if they don't believe us?' asked Emilio, the look of concern deepening on his face.

'Why wouldn't they believe us?' asked Howard.

'Are you kidding me?' Scoffed Emilio. 'On the day that the Voyager programme is to be shut down for good, we find potential alien space craft heading for the solar system. I wouldn't be surprised if the Administrator didn't take us seriously or accused us of falsifying the data.'

'I don't give a rats ass what he will believe.' Replied Howard, he gestured to the screens. 'We will show the Administrator the data then our duty is done, what he chooses to do with it after that is his decision but if he ignores us we may well all rue that decision.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

12:27 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 05.09.2018

Howard had gone through twelve NASA officials all with increasing authority before he was finally able to speak to the Administrator himself whom had been in Washington DC. The conversation Howard had with the Administrator had been gut wrenching, even now Howard could still remember it and the dressing down he had received for his trouble. When Howard finally made it through to the Administrator, he and Emilio shared an uneasy look as Howard turned the telephone onto loud speaker.

'This is Administrator Stronach.' Growled the man on the other end of the telephone. 'Just who in the hell is this?'

'Sir I am Howard Steven, I am a Mission Controller overseeing-'

'I know _exactly_ who you are Mr. Steven.' Cut in the administrator in a condescending tone. 'I was just wondering if you knew who you are.'

Howard and Emilio visibly winced at Howard's dressing down at the hands of the director, Howard didn't dare speak for he had a feeling that the Administrator wasn't finished and it was good that Howard didn't for he wasn't finished speaking.

'I asked who you are as I wanted to know how you think you have the brass balls to demand to speak with me!' roared the administrator, Howard imagined spittle flying from the man's lips such was the ferocity of his words. 'Your title as a Mission Controller might sound important to anyone who didn't know that your entire operation was run in one shitty room in Pasadena opposite a McDonald's!

'Tin pot mission controllers do not get to demand the attention of the Administrator of Nasa on a whim do you have any idea where I am? I am in Washington I am meeting with the President, the Secretary of Defence, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Your pet project has long since lost its shine and will be switched off as planned is that clear?'

Howard's pupils dilated he shared a look with Emilio the meaning was clear did they already know and were meeting about it now, Howard couldn't help himself he blurted out. 'Why are you meeting?'

'That is none of your fucking business.' Growled the director. 'Now be a good little boy and turn off your little instruments and get off the goddamned telephone.'

'Answer. The. Fucking. Question.' snarled Howard with venom in every syllable, with a firmness that he didn't know he had, he surprised Emilio and it seemed even the administrator as the line was silent. 'I need to know if you know already about what we have found because if you do then I am wasting precious time.'

'If I know what?' asked the director, his tone changing he was suddenly intrigued.

'I can't tell you, not over a telephone at least.' Replied Howard. 'But I need to know why you are meeting with the President, sir, I would not have insisted if it wasn't of the utmost importance. This is about Voyager but it isn't about funding, we have found someone but we need to know what you're meeting about.'

'It's a fact finding operation.' Stated the administrator after a pause. 'We have had word that the Chinese and the Russian's are making preparations for a moon base and the president wants to know if we can beat them to the punch, we are on the cusp of a new space race Mr. Steven.'

'Then you don't know.' Replied Howard, his shoulders sagged it would have been easier if they knew already.

'So it would seem.' Said the administrator. 'So what is it that I am meant to know?'

'I can't tell you.' Replied Howard. 'But I can show you, you need to get here as quick as you can.'

'Did you not listen I am in Washington.' Sneered the administrator. 'I am-'

'Yeah I got it you are in Washington with the big muckety mucks.' Chuckled Howard mirthlessly, he figured the only way to get the administrator here was to piss him off. 'If you can't connect the dots then you're a bigger dumbass than they say you are. We are monitoring the Voyager probes and if we are looking at what we think we are looking at then the Russians and the Chinese are the least of our problems, get to Pasadena, hell you might as well bring everyone with you they will find out sooner or later anyway.'

Since then for Howard the last six hours had been the most surreal in his entire life he experienced a vast array of emotions. At first he felt fear and foreboding at how he had spoken to the administrator of NASA with such derision, even though he felt he deserved it. Then he felt despair at what the readings from Voyager 1 could be and what they could mean for not just NASA but humanity.

Then Howard felt worried that he had blown it with the administrator and that they were going to be ignored. Now Howard just felt bored he was slumped in the office chairs staring blankly at the data on the screen, then his pulsed quickened and he swung the chair around to face the door as he heard Emilio running down the corridor. Every half hour Emilio had went outside to check if anyone was coming but this different as it was the first time Emilio was running.

Emilio thundered into the room, he came to a halt bent over trying to catch his breath. 'They are here.'

'You're sure?' asked Howard.

'Sure as I can be.' Replied Emilio. 'It is a government issue blacked out Sedan, I'm sure I saw the administrator.'

'Well I hope it is I am sick of this waiting around.'

'How do you think they will take it?' asked Emilio, he looked worried.

Howard didn't answer as he heard footsteps coming down the corridor he looked at Emilio with an equally worried look. 'It looks like we are about to find out.'

Walking into the small office was the administrator and a man in full military dress uniform, the former looked angry and the latter as impassive and unreadable as a brick wall.

The administrator stopped mere inches from Howard and pointed his finger in Howard's face. 'Who do you think you are you little prick? Making me come to Pasadena, I will have your job!'

The military man placed a firm hand on the administers shoulder and pulled him back. 'Now that is enough of that.'

The administrator tried to shrug him off with a snarl. 'Get the hell off of me.'

The man spun the Administrator around then he went nose to nose with him and growled. 'I am not one of your underlings that you can push around, you will calm down or I will put you down. You will conduct yourself in a manner more suited to your station, do you understand?'

The administrator looked angry at being shown up in front of his staff but then realised that the man in uniform wasn't fucking around, he nodded by way of reply.

'Very good.' Said the man he then turned to Howard and Emilio and his demeanour softened. 'I am General Aldrich Breckenridge, of the United States Marine Core and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I felt it prudent not to bring everyone so as to not arouse suspicion but rest assured our being here means that we are taking you seriously.'

'Thank you, general.' Managed Howard.

'Now I understand you gentleman have some vital information for us?'

'I don't believe it.' Whispered the administrator, at first it looked like he was staring at Howard but he wasn't he was looking at the computer screen over his shoulder.

'Administrator?' asked the general.

'When were they detected?' asked Administrator Stronach, looking to Howard and Emilio.

'In the early hours of the morning when Voyager 1 sent back her data.' Responded Emilio.

'This is genuine data?'

'Of course it is.' Replied Howard, trying to take the reproach out of his tone.

'Very well.' Said the administrator, he let out a long sigh. 'I apologise for my choler.'

'Well you have changed your tune.' Growled the general, looking to the administrator. 'Would someone like to clue me in here?'

'I am sorry general.' Stated Howard, he stood up then gestured to the computer screen. 'Here you see implicit modelling of data collected by Voyager 1, which has detected multiple objects in the interstellar medium which each have high electron density profiles, not only that they are emitting their own magnetic fields.'

General Breckenridge nodded his understanding. 'You don't think these could be natural?'

'At this early stage we can't be sure.' Replied Howard. 'We have thought of little else, they could be natural but it is highly unlikely.'

'They couldn't be asteroids?' asked the general, he still didn't looked convinced.

'It is the fact that Voyager 1 is detecting magnetic fields.' Said Howard. 'No asteroid in our system has one, in the early days when the solar system was forming there is evidence that early asteroids had their own magnetic fields, samples of Pallasites taken from asteroids that landed here on Earth showed a signature of magnetic fields.

'But by their very nature asteroids are vastly smaller than Earth so they cooled over time and lost their magnetic fields, so by that same logic if asteroids were crossing the vast gulf of the interstellar medium it would be fair to say that they should have lost their own magnetic fields by now.'

'But it isn't impossible?' persisted the general.

'No it isn't impossible, general.' Put in Emilio. 'We didn't call you here because we are offering answers, we called you here because we believed it was a matter of the highest importance.'

Administrator Stronach pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes in a brief moment of stress, when he put them back down he looked to Howard and then to Emilio, he then turned to General Breckenridge. 'We better get on the horn to the president.'

'No we won't.' countered General Breckenridge, the administrator looked aghast, Howard and Emilio looked worried.

'Pardon me?' asked the administrator.

'The President of the United States is not to be informed on this matter.'

'I know the orange fuck is funny looking.' Pressed Administrator Stronach. 'But he is our commander in chief he has the right to know.'

'The president or any staffers at executive level for that matter are not to be alerted.' The Generals demeanour shifted he seemed dangerous now, he gestured to Emilio and Howard. 'You and you are to pack everything it will be transported separately and you and it will be taken to the Pentagon.

General Breckenridge tone darkened further. 'You are to not speak to anyone about this to anyone and I do mean anyone. The official line is that Voyager has been shut down as planned and you are to give a press release that will corroborate the official line and that the Voyager programme has come to an end.'

'Then how can you explain us rushing down here?' bit back Administrator Stronach.

'It is well known the animosity between you two.' Replied General Breckenridge, referring to Howard and the administrator. 'The report will be that Howard refused to shut down and an altercation broke out.'

'An altercation?' scoffed the administrator. 'No one will believe that we don't even have a scratch-'

The administrator never got a chance to finish his sentence as the general sent a right cross hitting him square in the face bursting his nose in an explosion of blood, Howard and Emilio flinched at the suddenness of the blow.

General Breckenridge smirked looking down at the sprawled administrator. 'Now there has been an altercation.' He then looked to Howard and Emilio. 'Now get this gear packed up now.'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter V

12:27 Howard and Emilio in outer ring E of the Pentagon 06.09.2018

Twenty four hours after Howard and Emilio had left Pasadena they were sat in an anteroom off a briefing suite in the outer ring E of the Pentagon, he Emilio and their equipment were brought in separate vehicles and were unannounced when signing in they did not show their Nasa ID's and were described as consultants. Administrator Stronach gave them twenty four hours to prepare for a briefing, they were given unlimited resources but all Howard and Emilio needed was the use of the Hubble telescope but this was no simple task.

Everyone on shift at the time the request was sent were locked down and everyone else locked out with gag orders placed upon them, even then the staff were told which coordinates to search for but were not allowed to look at the images. An aide came into the anteroom and told them that the personnel were gathered for the briefing, Howard and Emilio smiled weakly at one another they were worried how the briefing would go.

They entered the briefing room it was midsized capable of housing forty people but present were only nine but these were extremely powerful men, they were the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the administrator of Nasa and the Secretary of Defence Stanley Braddock. The latter man gestured for Howard and Emilio to take up a position at a briefing lectern at the head of the conference table they were at, behind them was a white screen and projector above their heads, in front of them a computer with everything they needed.

'Gentlemen.' Stated Secretary of Defence Braddock. 'We wanted to involve everyone including the president in this briefing but it was decided that he and they should continue with their scheduled appointments so as to not arouse suspicion.'

'I understand, sir.' Replied Howard, his mouth was suddenly dry. 'I would have done the same in your position.'

'I appreciate that this situation is stressful for you two in the extreme.' Said the secretary. 'Just give us the facts and shoot from the hip.'

'Very well.' Replied Howard, he then gestured to Emilio to begin.

'Gentlemen.' Said Emilio, he then coughed to clear his throat. 'I was going over the latest data sent from Voyager 1 which is sent daily in the early hours of the morning, it was then that I saw that Voyager 1 had detected multiple objects emitting high density electron profiles as well as these objects emitting their own magnetic fields.'

'Now it would be fair to ask if these objects are natural.' Put in Howard, as Emilio brought up the images on the projector. 'During and even after the formation of the solar system it is theorised that the asteroids left over held their own magnetic fields but as the asteroid cores cooled the fields vanished.

'The objects moving towards the Sol system could be asteroids with their magnetic fields still intact but this is highly unlikely. Like our own asteroids cooling over time after the formation of the solar system it is reasonable to assume that these objects having travelled through interstellar space would have cooled to the point where their magnetic fields would have dissipated. If these objects are not natural then the only logical option is to believe that these objects are artificially emitting magnetic fields.'

'What are we talking about here?' asked one of the chiefs of staff. 'Aliens?'

'That is exactly what we are talking about.' Said Howard, even though he couldn't quite believe it himself, he paused letting his words hang in the air. 'We believe that dozens of extraterrestrial craft are heading here to the sol system.'

'How far out are they?' asked the Secretary of Defence.

'In the most simplest of terms.' Said Howard. 'They are more than ten times the distance between Jupiter and Earth, that is 13.1 billion miles. It sounds like a lot but it really isn't they are practically in our back garden.'

'How long will it take for them to get here?' asked Chief of Staff General Breckenridge.

'At their present speed.' Said Emilio. 'They would be in the outer solar system in a decade, then if they continued coreward they could reach Earth after a further five years. That is assuming they are travelling at maximum acceleration and I would say it is safe to assume that they aren't considering they've travelled the vast gulf of the interstellar medium.'

'If they are extraterrestrial vessels.' Stated the secretary of defence. 'Then why are they coming here.'

Howard couldn't help but shrug. 'There are numerous reasons tabled for natural resources, for water, for sport, for fact finding or to enslave us, some of course are more plausible than others but we simple do not know.'

'How long until they can detect us?' asked General Breckenridge.

'We've been detectable for years.' Replied Howard, he had anticipated this question and Emilio brought up a slide on the projector which showed an artist's impression of the local star systems around sol, as well as red concentric rings the significance of which Howard started to give commentary on. 'Here this furthest ring denotes the first radio signals sent in 1900, they have reached 110 light years from Earth and our first TV signals have reach 74 light years from Earth.

'These objects are less than five light years from Earth and could be from anyone of the many star systems you see or even beyond that. They are well within range of receiving the signals and if I have to hazard a guess as to how they found us radio waves are the most probable, after all that is what we are doing with the SETI project, listening for radio signals from extraterrestrial beings.'

'How come we haven't detected any signals coming from them?' asked General Breckenridge.

'They may be using short wave radio signals that when they reach us are undiscernible from the background of normal radiation.' Replied Howard. 'Or they are using a means of communication far more advanced than our own that we quite simply can't detect.'

'Very well.' Stated the secretary of defence. 'When will they be within range enough for us to be able to confirm whether or not they are aliens?'

'We won't be able to do that until they are well within the solar system.' Replied Howard.

'That can't be right.' Interjected one of the joint chiefs of staff. 'We've all seen the photos taken from the Hubble telescope, we can see stars and nebulas, sure we can see these things if we go to Hubble.'

Without needing to be prompted Emilio switched the projector to the images sent from Hubble, they were just blue blobs in the night sky surrounded by stars.

'These nebulas and stars you speak of are massive which are easy for Hubble to see.' Howard gestured to the images taken by Hubble. 'These were taken by Hubble within the last few hours as you can see they are just pale blue dots in the night sky, we won't be able to identify them until they are a whole lot closer.'

'How far away are these things again?' asked the secretary, he looked to be in deep thought.

'They are 13.1 billion miles away.' Replied Howard.

'How far away is Voyager 1?'

'Voyager 1 is 13 billion miles away.' Stated Howard.

'Voyager 1 has a camera doesn't it?' asked the secretary. 'If we divert Voyager 1 we can get pictures of these things a hell of a lot sooner.'

'After the last lot of images were taken in 1990 the camera was switched off.' Replied Howard. 'The software was removed that operates the camera and the hardware to control it on Earth doesn't exist anymore, not just that the camera has been exposed to the cold depths of space.'

'Is it possible?' asked the secretary.

'I wouldn't say it impossible.' Replied Howard, tentatively. 'But I can't guarantee it as we need to recreate the technology and hope to hell everything isn't too iced up.'

'How long would it take Voyager 1 to intercept?' asked the secretary.

'Three months.'

'Then you have three months.' Stated the secretary of defence. 'Set Voyager on an intercept course then get to work getting those cameras online, we need to identify those pale blue dots.'

'There is one concern for this course of action.' Stated General Breckenridge. 'If they could detect us on Earth then it is safe to assume that they can detect the Voyager probes and have been tracking their progress. If that is the case then how will they react to one or both of the probes heading toward them, the cat will be out of the bag they will know we've detected them.'

'I will take this up with the president.' Replied the secretary. 'But this is bigger than America he will have to take this to other world leaders, perhaps every world leader. I have a feeling he would rather detect them twenty years out rather than less than five years out, whether or not they know we are onto them or not. Get the Voyagers cameras working and get it done soon, all may depend on it.'


End file.
